Late Arrival

By Chris Devlin

E-Mail: devlin1983@hotmail.com

AN: Ok. This is my first fic in a long time. It is also Trish's birthday fic, which is almost a month late. But Trish I made the deadline we set (Before the New Year) so I don't have to do my forfeit! Also (Shameless plug time) I can't wait to read all the Birthday fics you guys are doing for me (I hope, otherwise I'm gonna sound like a right egg). Anyway, hopefully I can get back into the swing of writing again. If only cos Erin has overtaken my Fic amount on FF.Net, which cannot be allowed to continue) Anyway, the start is kinda sucky, but it gets better. Enjoy!!

Midsummer sun shone down on the Orange Islands, bathing everything in its warm bright rays. On Pummelo Island the brightest of all the sun's rays seemed to be landing on the Pummelo Hilton. It shone in through the windows, striking one woman in particular who kept reciting the same word over and over.

"Drake Drake Drake" The woman rolled the name about her mouth, savouring every vowel and consonant of it. "Drake" she continued. Across the coffee table from her sat three of her friends, each one bored to tears.

"Can you knock it off Trish?" Asked Chris who held the dubious honour of being the only male present. "I'm sick hearing about Drake." He whinged, running his hand through his black-red hair in exasperation. The others turned and looked at him.

"It's not that when it's you; mister Jenny is so great. Jenny is so sweet.'" Mimicked Erin. Chris sheepishly acknowledged this and sunk down into his chair, muttering something about "needing a cigarette" under his breath. Erin gave him an evil glance and the 18-year-old sunk even lower. Beside Erin sat Mia, who was trying to pry more information out of Trish before she had to rush off and actually meet Drake.

"So what's he like?" she asked, her hand resting on her chin. Trish's eye's lit up like lights on a Christmas Tree and she went into full-blown gush mode. Mia struggled to keep up with Trish's speech but managed to pick out the words "Tall, Dark, Handsome and Muscular". By this point Chris and Erin had began to get back into the conversation, leaning eagerly towards the Aussie as she relayed all the information. Once she had finished she sat back and sighed dreamily.

"And he agreed to go on a date with me." Mia and Erin both sighed as well.

"You can't beat a good bit of romance." Erin stated. Trish and Mia nodded in agreement, while Chris tried to appear the typical male.

"Romance. Who needs all that girlie stuff?" he said unconvincingly as he stood up and walked towards the balcony. "I need some fresh air. I'll be back in a minute." He added as he opened the glass door and stepped out, removing a packet of cigarettes and a lighter from his pocket. Erin watched him as he lit up, shaking her head in disapproval.

"He's the only person I know for whom fresh air' constitutes sucking toxins into his lungs." She said uncomprehendingly. "Ah well he's in for a surprise." She added. Mia looked at her, confusion on her face. Trish just went back to repeating Drake's name. "I replaced all his fags with Menthol ones. He hates them." Erin replied a vicious smile on her face. Mia grinned.

"You are so evil Riny! But I like it." She said as the pair turned to watch Chris who had by now spat the cigarette from his mouth in disgust and was rifling through the pack looking for a normal one. Not finding one he moaned and walked back inside.

"You know, sometimes I really hate you Riny." He said in mock anger as he sat down again, already biting his nails in irritation. Erin and Mia just grinned and laughed.

Trish stood outside the local Pokémon Centre, her hands fidgeting like nothing on earth. Her feet were shuffling and she had a feeling that if Drake didn't turn up soon she would be sweating like Brock in a Pokémon Nursing College.

"Oh Where are you?" she moaned to herself.

"Right here." Came the man's voice. Trish spun round in shock to see him standing before her. He was exactly as she had described him to Mia. Tall, Dark, Muscular and dressed in a vest and pants that made her grin like a schoolgirl. Trish smiled awkwardly.

"Eh Hi!" she said a bit too enthusiastically. "I was just ah you know waiting here for you" she stuttered. "Definitely acting like a schoolgirl." Her mind whispered to her. Drake smiled at her, causing her knees to go weak. Before she could fall over though she grabbed a nearby lamppost and propped herself up with it. He smiled at her again.

"So what d'you wanna do? Movie, meal, drink or something else?" he asked. Trish shrugged it off.

"Definitely something else." She said as she eyed him hungrily. Drake looked at her suspiciously before she realised what she had said. "I mean erm, a movie sounds fine."

"How d'you suppose she's doing?" the boy with the laptop asked as Mia, Erin and Chris walked into the lounge area of the hotel. He was sitting at a coffee table with four other guys.

"She's fine babe." Erin replied as she went over to him and kissed him on the cheek. "So what you guys doing?" she asked as she perched herself on the arm of Shingo's chair. Brock, Gary, Ash and Richie looked at each other before answering in unison,

"Nothing" the replied. The new arrivals raised their eyebrows in suspicion.

"Really?" Mia asked as she walked over to Gary, a vicious look on her face. Gary's face went completely pale and he began sweating.

"We were just discussing who we all like. If you know what I mean." He answered quickly, before being hit by a barrage of cushions from Brock, Ash and Richie. Erin gave Shingo an evil look.

"Were you partaking in this?" she asked.

"No, he was too busy looking up stats on the best kind of Pokéballs to buy on-line." Answered Ash. Shingo nodded in confirmation, not removing his eyes from the screen. The evil on Erin's face left and she hugged Shingo's neck tightly, cutting off the circulation to his head. Mia had by now walked over to the couch and sat down, facing the boys. Reaching into her backpack she withdrew a large pair of bolt clippers and nipple clamps, placing them on the coffee table in front of everyone.

"Now gentlemen." She announced. "You can tell us who likes who the easy way or the hard way." She said calmly. Brock, Richie, Ash and Gary looked at the table, then at each other before making the unanimous decision.

Five pain free minutes later and Mia placed the implements back in her bag.

"So, Richie likes Rachel and Dana, Ash likes Misty and Brock likes anything in a skirt with a pulse." She summarised.

"Aren't we forgetting someone?" Erin piped in.

"Hmm. Oh yeah. Gary... Spill em." Mia commanded, reaching her hand menacingly into her bag and removing the bolt clippers again. Gary moaned and began rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. Ash, Brock and Richie were beginning to snigger now, knowing what he was about to say.

"I um... I like... erm... Mia..." he stammered, his face a bright shade of scarlet. Chris, Erin and Mia gave a collective gasp when the unexpected news hit their ears. Mia somehow managed to get enough sense back to stand up and Gary watched as she walked over to him, unsure what to expect from the girl who was wielding a rather large and heavy pair of bolt clippers in her right hand. As she reached him she sat down in the seat beside him, the bolt clippers slipping from her fingers to the ground with a loud thud. Gary closed his eyes and sighed in relief but was interrupted when he felt her press her lips to his. He could hear the others give a collective cheer, but he ignored them, concentrating fully on the girl he now found in his arms. Sure she was borderline psychotic, was a total kleptomaniac for boxers and could scare the living crap out of anyone she met, but he saw those as her charms. "I don't suppose I can get all those shorts you've stolen from me over the years back now?" he asked as he pulled himself away for a second.

"Not a chance." she answered cheekily.

Trish was confronted by one of the weirdest scenes she had ever witnessed when she returned to the hotel. Gary and Mia were wrapped in each other's arms, making out in a corner. If that wasn't enough, Mia's backpack was laying at her feet half open, with the contents spilling out. That would be fine if the contents of her backpack weren't nippleclamps, several dozen pairs of boxers, boltclippers and a book called "World Domination in Five Short Weeks" she shook her head in disbelief and put it down to the few glasses of wine she'd had with Drake earlier.

"Hey Trish." shouted Erin and Shingo as she entered the lounge area. "How'd it go?" Erin asked. Trish smiled and walked over to the group. The rest of the group had now joined them, having just returned from a shopping trip. Rachel, Dana, Tracey and Karlie were rummaging through the various bags they had strewn around their feet, Misty was making out with Ash on the other sofa and Chris and Jenny had disappeared upstairs.

"Not bad. I'm seeing him again tonight. You know, the annual Pummelo Pokémon Centre Dance." she replied. The others nodded. Tracey, Ash and Shingo's faces suddenly all went deadly serious.

"That's tonight?" Tracey asked. Karlie looked at her boyfriend with anger in her eyes.

"Yes. I've been reminding you about it for the past two weeks. That's why I bought this dress." she explained as she produced a blue spangly dress from one of the bags. The girls in the room all cooed at the dress while the guys grew even more worried. Quickly they huddled in a corner for a few seconds before Ash was thrust in front of the group of women.

"We'll be back in an hour." he stuttered before the guys all ran out the door pushing and shoving. The girls could just make out the sound of one of the guy's voices.

"Where the hell can we get tuxedo's at this short notice?"

The dance turned out to be an open-air party held within the Pummelo Gym itself. Everyone had to gasp in awe at the sheer size of it. Everyone but Ash who just walked in and located the bar as soon as possible. Chris, Gary and Tracey who wasted no time in getting dug into the free alcohol soon joined him. Shingo wandered past them a few minutes later, a coke in one hand and his palmtop in the other, followed by Erin who was chasing him with a coaster. Richie and Brock were already on the dance floor trying to impress the local girls. It didn't take long for Dana and Rachel to evict the girls Richie had been dancing with, and Brock soon found himself surrounded by the local Nurse Joy and her cousins who were in town for a while. Karlie sat at the side, waiting for Tracey who'd promised to bring her over a drink, with Misty, Jenny, Mia and Trish. Jenny soon got fed up waiting for Chris and went in search of him, finding him out front about to smoke what would have been his first cigarette of the day if she hadn't taken the entire packet and had the bouncer's Magmar incinerate it. Mia merely gave Gary an extremely threatening glance and he soon scuttled over, an extremely brash cocktail in his hand.

"So how much rainforest was actually put in this drink?" Mia asked as she took it from him. He merely gave her an awkward smile. Misty was soon joined by Ash and the couple proceeded to make out for the next hour before finally going up to dance. Only Trish sat alone, waiting for Drake to show up. After another hour she began to get annoyed, then after another half-hour upset. Eventually Chris came over and sat next to her, handing her a bottle of some strange blue liquid which she quickly downed.

"How you holding up?" he asked sympathetically. She just groaned at him. "Listen" Chris started. "I don't think you should worry about it. It's not the end of the world, and I'm sure something just came up at the last minute." He said. She merely groaned again.

"It did." Came the sound of Drake's voice as he approached from a nearby door. Trish jumped to her feet and turned to face him, a look of semi-anger on her face. Chris stood up, gave her an encouraging hug and walked off, leaving the two alone.

"Trish I I'm so sorry." Drake said as he stood before her, his head hung. "Your friend is right though. Something did come up." He added. Trish looked at him, her anger beginning to fade.

"Well what?" she asked. Drake motioned for her to sit back down and she did. He sat down next to her.

"I had to make some arrangements before I came down. I have something I want to show you, and I wanted it to be perfect." He explained. Trish looked at him with slight suspicion. The Gym leader offered her his hand as he stood up. Accepting it she stood and followed him as he led her through the nearby door and up a flight of stairs. Going through another set of doors they entered a large comfortable room. It had a large window looking out over the Gym, a couple of large comfortable sofas and a small bar along one side of the room. Between the sofas was a table on which stood a bottle of Champagne and two glasses. Sitting her down on the sofa he poured the Champagne and offered her a glass, which she accepted. He walked over to the sofa and sat next to her. "To Trish. Quite possibly one of the most amazing women I have ever met, and will ever meet." Trish blushed uncontrollably at this.

"You are a smooth one aren't you." She said as she gazed into his large eyes. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to seduce me." She added, a mischievous smile playing across her lips. Drake raised his hand to her chin, lifting it up slightly as he drew closer to her.

"I'd say that's a very safe assumption to make." He whispered to her as he gently kissed her.

AN: What a crap ending! I apologise to Rach and Dana for not hooking them up with Richie, but you both fancy him, so I can't leave one of you out. Soz!!. Anyway, I hope everyone else is happy. I seemed to dwell on the Mia/Gary thing more than intended, but it was just fun to write.

Chris's Ryhme Time:
Anyhoo,
Read and Review!

Jaa!!!